Identity, Ignorance, Innovation: Why the old politics is useless - and what to do about it

by Matthew d'Ancona

'D'Ancona makes his case well... The book is well written and thoughtful' -- The Times'A heartfelt attempt to renew liberal ideals for the coming decades... How sorely our public debate needs others to express themselves similarly.' -- Henry Mance, Financial Times'An urgent and exhilarating account of how populism, prejudice & polarisation have corrupted objective truth and public discourse. D'Ancona's sparkling prose provides an explanation of how we got here and, crucially, how we might get out.' -- James O'Brien'A book so rich in thought, wisdom and persuasion I find myself sharing the ideas within it with everyone I meet... In the much-mourned absence of Christopher Hitchens, d'Ancona is fast becoming the voice of enlightenment for our bewildered age.' -- Emily Maitlis'A tonic for our times that blows open any complacency following Trump's defeat that the demise of populism and nativism is inevitable. In beautifully written prose, D'Ancona puts forward hopeful ideas and timely inspiration for a progressive politics to replace it.' -- David Lammy'A brilliant, lucid, fearless tract, just what the historical moment ordered.' -- Andrew O'Hagan'D'Ancona's regular practical suggestions help to take it beyond mere theory and into the real world... Decision-makers would do well to read it.' -- Charlotte Henry, TLS***This is a call to arms. The old tools of political analysis are obsolete - they have rusted and are no longer fit for purpose. We've grown lazy, wedded to the assumption that, after ruptures such as Brexit, the pandemic, and the rise of the populist Right, things will eventually go 'back to normal'.Award-winning political writer Matthew d'Ancona invites you to think to seek new ways of challenging political extremism, bombastic populism and democratic torpor on both Left and Right. In this ground-breaking book, he proposes a new way of understanding our era and plots a way forward. With rigorous analysis, he argues that we need to understand the world in a new way, with a framework built from the three I' Identity, Ignorance and Innovation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

303 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2021

Reviews

[Liam Xavier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew d'Ancona - rather formidably - sets out a clear, concise and well balanced account of the major social and political issue facing the world today, before explaining how outdated our approach is and how to adapt to the changes of our time.

Primarily liberal, d'Ancona does a fantastic job of presenting researched facts and varying points of view whilst questioning both Left Wing and Right Wing supporters and politicians. It has a functional ability to bring 2 highly divided parties together for a common goal and is an endearing, informative, damning-but-optimistic read. It is only occasionally let down by certain generalisations that feel less substantiated than other points and references that are less credible in their full context. Well worth a read.

It is rare - in my own occasional leftie stubbornness - for me to want to recommend a book so strongly in which i found reasons to disagree with it. But that is the point: to disagree but to do so in civil debate and for the sake of the world.

[Jim Levi · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting ideas, although it's far better at describing issues than proposing any particular alternatives. The sections on education are thought provoking though - these are probably the parts I would most recommend.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.9 stars.
Bro is a liberal.
Split into three parts this book takes on some contentious topics.
Tackling in part one - Identity Politics. This part was mostly agreeable however, when it wasn't agreeable it really wasn't agreeable. The author talks about the need to ensure that we don't fall into exclusionary identitarianism - essentially don't fly to close to the sun that you end up the very thing you were fighting against. Sound advice. However, despite insisting that he knows there is no truth to the 'snowflake' allegations against younger generations his argument takes on a slight - let the bad people talk, and in doing so conflagrate the masses because they're the ones that stops speech and if we do it, we're just like them - tinge to it. Reading this part in conjunction with the second part - Ignorance, provided better understanding, on its own part one - Identity is ruined by the small, not so great takes it has.
In part two - Ignorance the author talks about education, really beautiful discussion on global education reform, the negative impacts of standardized testing, and how the current education given to the masses is woefully behind in giving its students what they really need in order to live intelligently in the present world. Alongside Ignorance, the Identity arguments make sense, because they do sound like they exist in a utopia when they hit those disagreeable notes. In a utopia everyone has a right to say what they want, even if it's offensive or blatant lies because we have ingrained in our education a foundation of resistance to pseudoscience, propaganda and misinformation/disinformation. Props to the author for touching such a controversial topic while using the likes of JK Rowling and the TERF argument as examples as if it wouldn't immediately negate his arguments. While I don't agree/believe in his conclusion about those arguments, recognizing them in collaboration with his ideas of education makes the blow a little softer.
The weakest part for me was innovation. Lots of pro-robot/AI talk despite the broad understanding of the environmental unsustainability of AI. This book was published in 2021 so maybe the knowledge about this wasn't available yet. The author seemed to already have an understanding that relying on digital information causes people to be unable to retain information to the standard they would if they learned the information through brick-and-mortar research with the expectation that the information may not be permanently stored/widely available with some clicks. Very optimistic about government and employers holding the hands of everyone into the new era. And then it moves on to talking about elderly care? Which, valid topic, needs more eyes especially after the horrific images that came out of nursing homes, palliative care homes, and retirement villages during covid-19. But also... didn't fit the theme of the topic like all the other parts did. Maybe it was less about material innovation and more about political innovation? New policies in order to ensure better care? Still, none of the arguments in this book hold up without part two's heavy lifting in creating an educational utopia. And even then, a lot of the arguments are very liberal centric, even if the author thinks traditional liberalism and the current populist politics of today (neo-liberalism) aren't equipped to handle today's problems he's still of the mind that (essentially, neo-neo)-liberalism is the answer.
Lots to think about, some good eye-opening paragraphs, easy to get through and short.

[Ville Kokko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially love the first part's treatment on identity politics, saying it like it is both ways: there's very good reason for it to exist, but the version where people judge and police everything others say isn't doing any good. (And this book is what finished the job of convincing me this fundamentalist version does exist, even though both right-wing whiners and earnest people scared of change would complain about it even if it didn't, so it's hard to tell.)

The second part about education sounds like it has a good point, though it's not something I've seen with my own eyes. The third part, which is about living in a changed world, seems short and hasty.

[John Bleasdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting ideas.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book with logically explained conclusions but unfortunately picks up on too many topics on just 300 pages and thus doesn’t go deep enough into each matter.